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LATAM VENTURE BULLETIN
A must read roundup of startup deals and news on emerging technologies in Latin
America, delivered to over 7,000 investors, entrepreneurs and corporates bi-weekly.
August 18, 2022
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Editor’s note: The LatAm Venture Bulletin is produced by Carlos Ramos de la Vega, LAVCA’s Director of Venture Capital. Former Editor Julie Ruvolo now publishes GPCA's global newsletter, the Global Tech Brief. | TLDR 📣 Meeting Updates | 2022 Encontro Anual Brasil and LAVCA Week
📣 Research | LAVCA 2022 Latin American Startup Directory
📣 Deals | New rounds for: Clara, DD360, Klavi, Mudafy, Lumu Technologies, Miferia, Kontempo and Quaddro
📣 Healthtech | Rounds for: Dr. Consulta, ISA LAB, Elibré, Pura Mente and Wuru
📣 Funds | Astella Investimentos reaches USD150m final close |
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LAVCA’s seventh annual Latin American Startup Directory profiles 523 startups that raised USD1m+ in venture funding in 2021 and 1H 2022, during a time of record venture investment in the region.
This year’s directory includes details of each company’s disclosed investors, sector, stage and headquarters. Building on historic metrics, the 2022 directory includes a measure for the increasing flow of capital to women-led startups, an analysis of funding for repeat founders and the participation of corporate investors in startup funding rounds. KEY HIGHLIGHTS Gender Diversity | Nearly one-third of VC investment in Latin America went towards women-led startups in 1H 2022, a new record since LAVCA started tracking this metric in 2019.
CVC Participation | LAVCA recorded 125 corporates investing in disclosed rounds above USD1m in 2022 and 1H 2021, participating in 22% and 27% of those rounds in 2021 and H1 2022, respectively.
Venture Debt | Venture debt activity continued to grow in 2022 reaching nearly USD700m in 1H 2022, compared to USD826m in the entirety of 2021 and USD110m in 2020, according to LAVCA data.
Repeat Founders | In turbulent times, VCs opted to deploy more capital into experienced founders. According to LAVCA Research, repeat founders raised a record 43% of VC dollars invested in 1H 2022, compared to 24% in 2021 and 27% in 2020. LAVCA Members can download LAVCA’s 2022 Latin American Startup Directory including a full list of disclosed startup investments over USD1m for 2021 and 1H 2022, with additional details including each startup’s founders, as well as a full list of women-led startups (with names and titles), repeat founders, rounds with CVC participation and more.
LAVCA Members can also download LAVCA’s Mid-Year 2022 Industry Data & Analysis.
Non-members are welcome to purchase both editions.
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IN TWO WEEKS
ENCONTRO ANUAL BRASIL 2022 | LAVCA’s annual Brazil investors meeting is back in person to convene leading VCs active in Brazil for a half-day program focused on networking and discussions on August 30 in São Paulo.
Quinn Li, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Qualcomm Ventures, will join us for a fireside chat as part of his inaugural visit to Brazil.
Carlos Ramos de la Vega, Director of Venture Capital at LAVCA, will present insights from our 1H 2022 VC data (already the second largest year on record after 2021) – including an update on venture funding going to women-led startups.
The program will also include the following breakout discussions: - Helping Portfolio Companies Fundraise Through a Crisis led by Santiago Fossatti of KASZEK and Julia Figueiredo of Partners for Growth
- Investing in Diverse Founding Teams led by Andre Barrence of Google for Startups and Head of Google’s Black Founders Fund.
LAVCA Members are welcome to join us for dinner following the program. Dinner attendance is limited to one partner per firm; please RSVP directly to Marcelo Pizzato (MPizzato@lavca.org).
Encontro Anual Brasil is made possible with the support of Qualcomm Ventures. Special thanks to Google for hosting us, as well as supporting organizationsAWS, Meta, Microsoft, Mercado Libre, Movile, Riverwood Capital and Visa.
☞ REGISTER NOW |
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NEXT WEEK
Following the launch of LAVCA’s Startup Directory, LAVCA and SVB look forward to hosting an online discussion on 2022 VC/Tech Mid-Year Trends for Latin America on August 25 at 12pm ET.
After last year’s extraordinary and record-breaking year for VC investment, we find ourselves in a much less certain market environment. Even so, LatAm is having its second strongest year on record. We’ll go over top sectors of growth, key deals in the major markets, new unicorns, notable exits and M&A, followed by a panel discussion with Eric Acher of monashees, Carolina Strobel of Antler and Joaquim Lima of Riverwood Capital on the future of the industry in the region.
☞ REGISTER NOW |
| | ▸ Clara, a Mexican startup offering corporate expense management startups, secured a credit line of up to USD150m from Goldman Sachs Asset Management. ▸ HEALTHTECH | Kamaroopin, a growth fund founded by Pedro Faria of Tarpon Investimentos, led a ~USD34m Series D for Dr.Consulta, a Brazilian health insurance provider, with follow-on from Lightrock and Madrone Capital. - Dr.Consulta has 1.5k+ in-network health professionals and offers consultations in 60+ health specialties.
▸ US-based asset manager Creation Investments invested USD25m in DD360, a Mexican credit financing and operations management platform for residential real estate.
▸ Iporanga Ventures and Parallax Ventures led a USD15m Series A for Klavi, a Brazilian open banking platform, with participation from Telefonica Vivo, CIP and GSR Ventures.
▸ HEALTHTECH | ISA LAB, a Brazilian at-home vaccination service, raised a ~USD12m round with participation from Yaya Capital, FIR Capital, Vox Capital, Kortex and Bradesco Saude and Scale-Up Ventures, and follow-on from Canary, Norte Ventures and MatterScale. ▸ PROPTECH | Founders Fund led a USD10m round for Mudafy, an Argentine real estate broker with operations in Argentina and Mexico, with participation from IDC Ventures.
▸ SECURITY | US-based Panoramic Ventures led a USD8m round for Lumu Technologies, a Colombian cybersecurity platform focused on data protection, with participation from Softbank’s SB Opportunity Fund, KnowB4 Ventures, and angels Lane Bess (Palo Alto Networks) and Tom Noonan (Internet Security Systems).
▸ Tiger Global and Bain Capital Ventures led a USD7m seed round for Miferia, a Mexican wholesale marketplace for cosmetics, food and beverage and home decor, with participation from Canary, Latitud and Asymmetric Capital Partners.
▸ BNPL | Portage led a USD6.5m seed round for Kontempo, a Mexico-based B2B BNPL startup, with participation from SCOR P&C Ventures, IGNIA Partners, Tectonic Ventures, Rhombuz VC and Asymmetric Capital Partners.
- Kontempo also raised a USD25m debt facility from Upper90.
▸ Vivalá, a Brazilian eco-friendly and sustainability-focused travel platform, raised a ~USD6m round from Synthase and Harvard Angels.
▸ INSURTECH | XP Seguridade, the insurance arm of XP, acquired BTR, a Brazilian brokerage of corporate dental and health insurance plans.
▸ Valor Capital Group led a USD3.2m seed round for Quaddro, a Brazilian workflow and CRM platform for microentrepreneurs, with participation from NXTP, Bridge Latam and Grão.
▸ CROSSBORDER | Hong Kong-based APx Capital led a USD2.3m round in Uellbee, a Mexico-based consumer debt refinancing platform.
▸ HEALTHTECH | Apus Capital led a ~USD1.4m seed round for Elibré, a Brazilian mental health clinic management platform.
▸ HEALTHTECH | Pura Mente, an Argentine personal development and meditation app, raised a USD1.3m seed round from 500 Global, Goodwater Capital, Newtype Ventures and Start-Up Chile.
- Dux Capital led a USD200k round in July 2021.
▸ Hero Capital led a USD1.2m equity and debt round for Banca.me, a Chilean consumer microcredit platform.
▸ Genesis Ventures led a USD1.1m round for Reversso, a Chilean e-commerce returns automation platform, with participation from Hero Capital and Grupo Prisma.
- Platanus Ventures, the CVC arm of Chilean software development agency Platanus, led a USD160k round in October 2020.
▸ MSW Capital, the CVC fund of Banco do Brasil, invested ~USD1m in Yours Bank, a Brazilian financial education and prepaid credit card issuer for teenagers.
▸ Ameris Capital led a USD1m round for AirnCar, a Chilean car rental platform.
▸ RoomBeast, a Chilean B2B hotel booking platform, raised USD1m from Dadneo and undisclosed angels.
- RoomBeast was just selected to participate in Startup-Chile’s Growth program.
▸ Sirros IoT, a Brazilian sensor manufactured for industrial plant automation, raised ~USD1m from Randon Ventures, the CVC arm of Empresas Randon, Acolab Ventures, the CVC arm of ArcerlorMittal and BR Angels.
▸ CLEANTECH | Collaborative Fund and Positive Ventures led a USD700k pre-seed round for Ruuf, a Chilean solar energy panel marketplace for residential real estate.
▸ Inversiones Consolidadas, the family office of Andronico Luksic, invested in Almacén Guru, a Chilean supply management platform for SMEs.
▸ AGTECH | Aimorés led an undisclosed round for Meu Pescado, a Brazilian marketplace for farmed fish, with participation from BossaNova Investimentos.
▸ Porto Ventures, the CVC arm of Brazilian insurance giant Porto Seguro, invested in Tech4Humans, a Brazilian customer service automation platform for financial institutions and insurance companies.
▸ HEALTHTECH | US-based healthtech investor Meridian Street Capital invested in Wuru, an Argentine data analytic platform for healthcare facilities, with participation from Ciro Ventures and Bonim Corp.
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| | | | ▸ LAVCA MEMBER | Astella Investimentos reached a USD150m final close for Astella V, its fifth flagship fund to invest in Brazilian startups raising pre-seed to Series B rounds. - Spectra Investments is an anchor LP in the fund.
- Some recently announced investments in Astella’s portfolio include Guiavet (healthtech), Bornlogic (marketing) and Zipia (insurtech).
- Partner Edson Rigonatti shares: “We are now coming in at 2017 prices, with product quality of 2023. So we think this will be the best vintage to invest in because you are picking up a great entry point.”
▸ LAVCA MEMBER DEBT | BTG Pactual launched a venture debt fund to invest in Chilean fintech startups. - BTG has already provided debt financing to WildFoods, Buydepa and Wift.
▸ LAVCA MEMBER | Singaporean state holding company Temasek and Brazilian bank Banco Votorantim launched 23S Capital, a USD700m fund to invest in late-stage Brazilian startups. - 23S Capital will be led by the Head of Temasek Brazil Matheus Villares.
▸ BIOTECH | Argentine accelerator GridX launched a second fund with a USD50m target to invest in early stage biotech startups. - LPs include Marcos Galperin (Mercado Libre) and the Sielecki family.
▸ Cemex Ventures, the CVC arm of Mexican construction conglomerate Cemex, made an undisclosed commitment to Zacua Ventures, a Mexican early stage fund investing in construction-related startups. - Zacua Ventures was launched by former Cemex Ventures senior investment leads Mauricio Weiss and Juan Nieto.
- Other LPs in Zacua Ventures include ANDRES Construction, GS Futures, Progreso X and SABANCI Building Materials Group.
▸ Mountain Partners launched Mountain Partners Green, a Chile- and Argentina-based fund to invest in early stage companies focused on actively reducing the carbon footprint of corporates and consumers.
▸ CVC | Ulta Beauty, a US-based cosmetics retailer, launched Prisma Ventures, a CVC fund to invest in early stage startups developing tech for AR, VR and the metaverse. Prisma Ventures is led by Uruguayan Agustina Sartori.
▸ Colombian accelerator Pygma acquired Colombian seed fund Scala VC.
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LAVCA WEEK 2022 | Registration is open for LAVCA Week 2022, taking place October 11-14 at the Conrad New York Downtown.
The 2022 conference will convene LAVCA’s unparalleled network of private capital investors from across Latin America, the US, Asia and other global markets for our flagship meeting, which will include networking and discussions on the latest trends in PE, VC and other private capital strategies.
Program highlights:
- Keynote Speaker Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners
- Fireside Chat with Martin Escobari, Co-President, Managing Director and Head of General Atlantic Latin America and Cesar Carvalho,CEO of Gympass
- Re-Inventing Crypto in a Crisis with Federico Gomez Schumacher of PayPal and Renato Pereira of Mercado Libre, moderated by Anita Ramaswamy of TechCrunch
- Talent on the Move: Translating Track Records to New Ventureswith Gregory Reider of Volpe Capital, Rodrigo Baer of Upload Ventures, Bianca Sassoon of 17Sigma and Gina Gothilff of Latitud; moderated by Adriana Tortajada of 1200VC
- Corporate Investor Meetup led by Silvia Motta of Movile, Mariano Amartino of Microsoft for Startups and Aldo Hernandez of Citi Ventures.
Registration is open to LAVCA members, non-member private capital investors and qualified institutional investors.
☞ REGISTER NOW |
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▸ M&A | Ecuadorian fintech Kushki acquired Mexican payments platform Billpocket.
- Kushki became Ecuador’s first unicorn after raising a USD100m Series B+ from KASZEK, DILA Capital, SoftBank Latin America and Clocktower Ventures at a USD1.5b valuation in June.
- Redwood Ventures invested in Billpocket in 2018.
▸ M&A | Lentesplus, a Mexican omnichannel eyecare platform, acquired LIVO, a Brazilian eyewear fashion brand. - Lentesplus will rebrand its operations in Colombia, Mexico, Chile and Argentina as part of the merger.
- Lentesplus acquired Newlentes, a Brazilian independent online contact lens provider, and launched operations in Brazil earlier this year.
- IGNIA Partners, DG Ventures, Empire Group and Palm Drive invested ~USD8m in January.
▸ FOODTECH | Chilean foodtech NotCo partnered with Alsea, a Mexican restaurant operator, to include its flagship plant-based products Not-Burger, Not-Chicken and Not-Milk in their restaurants and coffee shops, including Starbucks.
▸ LOGISTICS | Brazilian delivery logistics platform Loggi appointed former CFO Fabien Thibaud Lecuyer as new CEO as part of a set of recent internal restructurings.
- Former CEO Fabien Mendez was appointed Chairman of the board.
- Loggi raised ~USD205m led by CapSur Capital at a USD2b valuation in February 2021.
▸ FOODTECH | Manzana Verde, a Peruvian healthy food delivery startup, launched operations in Colombia. - Investors in Manzana Verde include FJ Labs, MatterScale Ventures, MrPink VC, Roble Ventures and Salkantay Ventures.
▸ tap, an Argentine utilities payment platform, launched operations in Bogota. H20 Capital invested in July. |
| | ▸ CRYPTO | Binance partnered with Mastercard to launch a prepaid crypto card in Argentina.
▸ CRYPTO | Brazilian bank Banco Original announced the launch of a utility token in early 2023 for customers to transact at Original Store, the bank’s cashback and discount service aggregator.
▸ Anitta is stepping down from Nubank’s board of directors. Thuan Pham, current CTO at Coupang, is expected to join the board in her place after Nubank’s Annual General Meeting.
- Anitta is credited for helping launch both Instituto Nu, Nubank’s social innovation platform and the company’s global ESG strategy.
▸ Grupo Bimbo, a Mexican manufacturer and distributor of baked goods, launched Bimbo Open Door, an accelerator to invest in Latin American bakery and snack startups.
▸ WIRED: Tech’s Offshore Hiring Has Gone Into Overdrive
“ We used to think of this as a cost arbitrage story—you hire in Mexico or India because it’s cheaper… Now [it is] as a talent arbitrage story. You go where the talent is. [...] For developers in Latin America, however, many of these jobs don’t come with the support and stability they’re accustomed to from a salaried position. Sebastián, the developer in Ecuador, said he chose not to take the offer from the Miami-based startup because he would have been an independent contractor, without the benefits offered to full-time employees.” ▸ Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro are amongst the newest hot spots for expats, per Bloomberg. - Others include Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon, Dubai and Bangalore.
▸ Rest of World: For all the hype around Bitcoin, Salvadoreans just want digital banking |
| People & Programs ▸ Congratulations to the 10 startups selected to participate is the 16th batch of 500 Somos Lucha: AVIONETA, Bluerabbit, confiabogado.com, SoyHabitue, Gloset, Lineup, Osyva, Qentaz, Sapiens Medicus and scouterMx
▸ Congratulations to the six startups selected to participate in the seventh edition of Endeavor’s ScaleUp program: Elevva, Stamm, Klimber, Winclap, Wibond and Simplestate.
▸ Bayer Mexico launched its second Digital Health Bootcamp for early stage healthtech startups. Interested founders are welcome to apply.
▸ DEEPTECH | Petrobras launched Petrobras Programa Petrobras Conexões para Inovação, the fourth edition of its program to invest ~USD4m in deeptech startups in Brazil. Applications are now open.
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| LAVCA Job Board ▸ Capria Ventures is looking for a Global Investment Fellow focused in Latin America to join its team. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.
▸ Elevar Equity is looking for a Financial Analyst to join their team in Mexico City. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.
LAVCA Members: We welcome your job recs for future editions. Email cramos@lavca.org with information on relevant opportunities.
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